Refugees inevitably suffer difficult experiences before, during and after their migration, but as service providers we often assume that any distress a refugee faces stems from the trauma that led them to flee their home country.  In fact most refugees report that despite the past challenges, settling in a new country and building back a life is profoundly stressful.  Learning to recognize and decode these complex communications of suffering, capacity and need is especially difficult when we have no understanding of the refugee’s geopolitical and culture context. This talk will explore a frame work that addresses the need to more accurately understand the causes and mitigation of distress. Underpinning these ideas is the recognition that refugees are extraordinary resilience with some thoughts on how to recognise this and optimize and enhance service delivery as a result.